Elevator gate



NOV. 30,1937. I C:l TAM$|TT 2,100,882

'IIII I m1 11 1 i 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 30, 1937. J. c. TAMslTT ELEVATORGATE Filed April 27, 193e Patented Nov. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES EmvA'ron.GATE Joseph C. Tamsitt, Aurora/Ill., assigner to Richards-WilcoxManufacturing Company, Aurora, Ill., a corporation of IllinoisApplication April 27; 1936, Serial No. '116,536

s claims.

The present invention relates generally to gates and particularly togates for elevator cars or cabs, and the principal object of the presentinvention is the provision of a exible gate of the picket type that isadapted to be moved away from the elevator car opening and around thecorner and along one side of the ca'r itself.

Heretofore, gates of this general construction have usually been made upof a plurality of ally in the nature of rods and metallic hinges, allsupported for individual pivot movement from suitable hangers movablealong a track carried by the car. While such gates have` generally beenfairly satisfactory, they are relatively heavy, expensive, involve manypivoted parts, hinge pins, and the like, and, moreover, have been noisyin operation.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is the provisionof a gate for an elevator car in which the picket members are rigidlyconnected with the associated hanger members and are connected togetherfor relative folding or hinging movement, so as to pass around thecorner of the car, by one or more non-metallic exible belts or bandswhich are securely clamped to the individual picket members. Such beltor band means, according to the principles of the present invention, isin the nature of a relatively sturdy band or bands of rubber and fabricor the like, which, while securely holding the picket members in properposition, possesses sucient flexibility so that all articulated joints,hinge pins and the like can be eliminated, rendering the gate light inWeight and smooth and silent in operation, but without detracting fromeither the appearance or the strength of the gate.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of improvedguide means for a gate of this character, involving nonmetallic memberscarried at the lower end of each of the picket members and movable in asuitable channel guideway in the car. Since the lower members, movablein the associated guideway, are nonmetallic, very little if any noise iscreated by the opening and closing of the elevator car gate.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new andimproved picket member for said gates, specifically a hollow rod ofsuitable cross section receiving a hanger strap at its upper end andcarrying a nonmetallic guide member at its lower end disposed within thehollow picket member.

These and other objects and advantages of the (cl. -asi-a6) presentinvention, will be apparent to .those skilled inthe art after aconsiderationofthe following detailed description of the preferredembodiment, taken in conjunctionwiththeaccompanying drawingsillustrating such embodiment. l

In the drawings: l

Figure l is aperspective view of an elevator car y or cab equipped witha gate constructed accordpivoted or hingedly connected members, generingto the principles ofthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a section taken through the gate substantially along theline 2-2 ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 is, a horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken through a portion of the elevatorcar or cab substantially along the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a modified form oi?lgate picket construction; and

Figure 6 is a section taken along the line 6--6 of Figure 5. A

Referring now to the drawings, more particularly to Figure l, theelevator car or cab is indicated in its entirety by the referencenumeral I and includesa roof 2, side panels 3 and 4, and a iioor orbottom 15, of a more or less conventional construction. The floor 5includes a guide chanynel 1, which will be referred to later, and theside panel 4 includes a section 4a disposed at the front side of thecar'and to one side of the opening 8 in the front of the car by whichaccess to the latter is had. Across the top of theopening 8 and alongthe upper portion of the side panel 4 of the car are angled platesections Il and I2 to which the supporting track is fastened.

The elevator gate is indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral20 and includes a track 2| supported in any suitable manner on theelevator car or cab and a flexible picket section 22 including verticalmembers connected together by flexible bands 23, which may be formed ofrubber and fabric or the like. The track construction, best shown inFigure 2, includes a plurality of brackets 25, each in the form of abracket plate 26 secured by rivets 21 or the like -to the angle membersII and l2 and serving to support a track rail 28 in spaced relation bymeans of a spacer sleeve 30 secured to each of the bracket plates 2 6 bymeans of arivet 3| or the like. 'Ihe supporting edge 32 of the trackrail 28 is rounded as best shown in Figure 2,- and as best shown inFigure 1, stop lugs 35 and 36 ,are provided at the ends of the trackrail 28,1;.the latter being disposed over the cab opening 18andbentsoastolie alongthe upper edge oi' the side panel 4.

The iiexible picket section 22 includes a plurality of vertical picketmembers, each rigidly connected at its upper end to a supporting hangermember 4I. As best shown in Figure 2, the preferred form of hangerincludes a strap which has an inwardly bent lower section 4l rigidlysecured to the upper end of the associated picket member 30 by anysuitable means, such as screws 42, and above the strap section 4I thehanger is bent as at Il and at its uppermost end terminates in aninverted U-shaped yoke 4l, the terminal end Il of which extendsdownwardly and lies substantially in or adjacent the plane of the picketmember 33 and the lower picket receiving portion Il of the hanger strap.'I'he inverted U-shaped yoke section Il carries a bearing rivet 5Iwhich, in turn, supports the inside and outside cones 5| and l2 uponwhich the top roller 53 of the hanger is rotatably mounted, as byanti-friction ball bearings Il. 'Ihe bottom roller I is supported on arivet Il similar to the rivet Il mentioned above, the rivet il alsosupporting inside and outside cones 02 and I3 upon which the roller 6lis mounted for rotation, as by ball bearings Il. The upper or top rollerl has a curved load supporting surface which cooperates with the curvedload receiving edge of the track rail Il, while the lower roller has adeeper flange and functions principally to keep the hanger in positionon the track. Each of the hangers 4l, both end and intermediate hangers,is of the same construction as described above, and hence furtherdescription is not necessary.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 3, the severalvertical picket members II are. solid in cross section, as best shown inFigure 3, and are preferably formed of aluminum, so Ias to be strong butlight in weight, but any other metal may be used if desired.;`

A guide shoe is carried at the lower end of each of the picket members33, as indicated by the reference numeral 10. Each of the guide shoes 10consists of a blockof nonmetallic material, preferably a phenoliccondensation product, and is rigidly secured to the lower end of theassociated picket 39 by means of screws or rivets 1|. 'Ihe members 1I,as well as the members 42, may if desired be self-tapping screws. 'Ihelower ends of the several bottom guide shoes Il are formed to be movablydisposed in the guide channel 1, and as best shown in Figure 4, theguide channel 1 is formed in the floor or platform of the car in anysuitable manner. Stop lugs and I6 (Figure 1) are'carried at the ends ofthe guide channel substantially underneath the stop lugs and 36 on thetop rail 2l and cooperate with the end picket members 33 in limiting theopen and closed position of the gate 20.

The picket members 39 are connected together for relative movement inspaced relation by` means of y three ilexible bands 23, mentioned above.Each of the belts may consist of 'a band of vulcanized rubber andfabric, somewhat similar to rubber tire stock and possesses considerablestrength but is quite flexible, or the bands may be formed of anysuitable non-metallic material. The bands 23 are rigidly clamped to eachof the vertical picket members 33, or between the pickets if doublepickets are used, by any suitable means that insures the ilrm attachmentof each of the picket members to the belts. Preferably, as best shown inFigure 3, the bands are clamped thereto by means of clamping bars ingscrews Il or the like. When the screws are ven home, the clamping barsfirmly hold the ds to the picket members 3l. For those pickets which aredisposed adjacent the front panel section la of the car when the gate isopen, the clamping bars are replaced by stiffener plates which, in theform illustrated, extend over four of the picket members and are vfirmlysecured to each bar by self-tapping screws Il or the equivalent. Sincethese picket members never pass around the corner of the car, they neednot be flexibly connected together for relative movement, but suchrelative movement isnecessary for the remainder of the picket members,as will be obvious from Figure 1, since this portion of the gate mustpass around the corner of the car, being guided in this movement by theupper track rail 2l and the lower guide channel l.

The use of picket members in the form of solid bars may not in all casesbe desirable. In Figures 5 and 6 I have illustrated the use of tubularpicket members and a somewhat diierent form of connection between thepicket members Il and the associated hanger and guide members.-Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, the' reference numeral I. indicatesa'tubular picket member of hollow construction, preferably formed ofsections Il and l2 fabricated as indicated in Figure 6. 'Ihe hanger unit'Il is of substantially the same construction as described above, exceptthat Il and self-ta the Aupper inverted U-shaped yoke section hasbeeneliminated and the upper roller I3 supported on one end of a rivet 3lplaced at the upper end of the hanger strap Il. The lower end of thehanger-strap OI is bent inwardly, as at l1, and is inserted into theupper end of thehollow tubular picket member Il, and secured therein byrivets or screws 33. At the lower end of the tubular picket, the guidemember III, which is preferably formed of the same material as the guidemembers or shoes 'Il described above, is formed so as to be capable ofbeing inserted into'. the open lower end of the tubular picket member3|, and secured therein by screws or rivets |02.

'I'he guide shoes Ill move in the guide channel 'I in the floor of thecar and serve the same purpose as set forth above in connection with theform of the invention shown in Figure 1. 'I'o facilitate their movementin the guide channel 1, the nonmetallic guide shoes 'I0 and III are bothhfivided with rounded corners as indicated at While I have thus shown-and described above the preferred structure embodying the principles ofthe present invention, it is to be understood that my invention is notto be limited to the specific details shown and described above, butthat, in fact, widely diil'erent means may be employed in the practiceof the broader aspects of my invention.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In an elevator sate of the around-thecorner type, a plurality ofvertically disposed bars spaced apart in the direction vof gate travel,and a plurality of ilexible non-metallic horizontal bands of sounddeadening material connected to the bars and having suillcie'ntthickness to maintain the bars in spaced apart relation and to preventbeing kinked in operation.

2. In an elevator gate of the around-the-corner type. a pluralityofvertical members spaced apart in the direction of gate travel. aplurality of hori' zontal non-metallic bands of flexible sounddeadhaving sui'ilcient thickness to maintain the bars in spaced apartrelation, and a stiiener plate for each ilexible band disposed over andserving to connect substantially all of the vertical bars that,

in the open position of said gate, are disposed 5 adjacent the front oithe elevator.

J OSEPI-lly C. TAMSITI.

